The present invention relates generally to a method for generating an image from a string of text characters. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for generating bitmap images on demand within a database server using only strings of text characters within stored procedures.
It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words and perhaps this has never been more true than today. The explosion of information stored on modern computer systems and transferred across the Internet has fed the need for larger and more complex information storage systems. Powerful database servers have been developed not only to store information, but to allow a user to sort, categorize, manipulate, re-format, share, and interpret the information in useful ways. One known use of database servers is, for example, the tracking of a variety of attributes of a package such as location, size, weight, contents, value, ownership, delivery address, scheduled delivery date, etc. In this application, a field within the database server representing the package may be associated with a field within the database server for each of the noted attributes. Any one of these attribute fields may contain a small or a large quantity of information that requires periodic updating from the field, which in this example, is the location of the package.
Barcodes have come into use as an efficient way of transferring the sort of large quantities of information stored in a database server such as may be involved in the example of a package noted above. Other examples of information stored in database servers may include tracking of test samples in a laboratory, evidence in an investigation, or a fleet of vehicles, among others. Typically, a barcode is generated that includes enough relevant information to identify an item and may be placed on the item, either by direct printing, an adhesive printed label, or other means. Subsequently, a scanner can read the barcode and transmit the relevant information to a user operating a database server for updating of one or more attributes of the item or for other purposes.
There are several methods currently used for generating barcodes from strings of text within a database server for the purpose of printing the barcode. All of the existing methods involve the use of software and/or computations executed outside of the database server. For example, some printers include software associated with the printer that is able to convert text read from a database server into a barcode format while printing. Alternatively, workstations can include software that can convert text read from a database server into a barcode image and subsequently transmit the barcode image to a printer. Some workstations include special fonts or image libraries for the conversion of text from a server database to a barcode image. In some cases, upon data entry at a workstation, software on the workstation can convert text to a barcode image using one of the methods noted above and store the image in a database server.
The existing methods for generating barcodes from text in a database server suffer from several shortcomings. All of the existing methods require additional software and/or hardware in addition to the database server to generate a barcode for printing. Further, all of the existing methods require that the barcode image generated from a workstation during data entry be stored along with the text data. Storing the generated barcodes unnecessarily is a waste of resources, and the fonts and image libraries often used in generating the barcodes can be unwieldy and execute slowly, thus wasting time.
There exists a need for a method of generating bitmap images, for example, barcodes, from strings of text within a database server without requiring image libraries or external software and/or hardware. Such a method benefits from operating on the fly on strings of text within a database without a requirement that the bitmap images be stored within the database. Such a method also benefits from the ability to generate a bitmap having any desired orientation, and in the case of generating a barcode, benefits from the ability to utilize any barcode encoding scheme. Further, conventional methods including image libraries may contain image characters that utilize a byte of data per character, whereas a method utilizing bitmap images further benefits from saving of memory space in temporary storage and manipulation of bitmap images compared to the conventional methods.